Browsing by Author "Gupta, A.K."

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Assessment of medicinal and aromatic plant species on their collection, usage, demand, markets, price trends and life cycle in Lahaul and Pangi landscape, Himachal Pradesh
(Wildlife Institute of India, Dehradun, 2021) Kumar, Amit; Sathyakumar, S.; Goraya, G.S.; Gupta, A.K.; Adhikari, B.S.; Rawat, G.S.
Nested in the Western Himalaya, the state of Himachal Pradesh (30° to 33°N and 75° to 79° E) is known for its rich biological diversity. It covers an area of 55,673 km2 with >3,300 distinct plants species. Interestingly, the alpine areas of Lahaul and Spiti are one of the major hot spots of wild MAPs in the Western Himalaya. Unfortunately, the remote valleys such as Lahaul, Pangi, Spiti, Kinnaur including micro-watersheds lying in the cold-arid regions of Himachal Pradesh are relatively less studied in terms of available growing stock and population status of MAPs. Notably, there is a general lack of literature on medicinal plants at the catchment, watershed and valley levels. Further, the information on recent levels of trade of MAPs are available only from a few localities of the Western Himalaya. Like other areas, these areas have also been facing additional stress due to over-exploitation of forest resources, including the unscientific and premature harvesting of MAPs from the wild, which functions parallel to the illegal and hidden markets thus, putting tremendous pressure on the wild resource base resulting in the dwindling populations and precarious livelihoods of local communities. The rising demand of herbal products has caused excessive harvesting of many of the important MAPs from these regions, putting their wild population at the risk of extinction. Keeping aforementioned aspects in view, the current study was proposed which aims to study selected Medicinal and Aromatic Plant (MAP) species in Lahaul and Pangi landscape of Himachal Pradesh with focus to ensure sustainable harvesting and cultivation by (i) identifying usage patterns of MAPs, and (ii) studying existing value chains. In order to address the project objectives, the present study has been categorized into 12 key tasks. The current study revealed that the major issues adversely impacting the MAP species in the Lahaul and Pangi landscape include illegal/ over/ premature/ unorganized harvesting of Medicinal and Aromatic Plants (MAPs), high demand and non-transparent operations in the markets of MAPs. Besides these issues, few gaps such as knowledge on available stock of MAPs, lack of information on cultivation and harvesting methods of key MAP species specific to Lahaul and Pangi landscape, lack of information on end users and middlemen and inadequate information on quantity of raw material traded have been reported. In order to optimize the benefits to the local communities and adopt the concepts of sustainable harvesting and benefit sharing, it is important to assess the availability, market trends and methods for collection of MAPs including gathering information on population of selected MAPs. This will help in identifying High Conservation Value Areas (HCVAs) and delineating MPCAs for in-situ conservation in the landscape. Assessment of medicinal and aromatic plant species on their collection, usage, demand, markets, price trends and life cycle in Lahaul and Pangi landscape, Himachal Pradesh Additionally, identification of large traders and industries that acquire their raw materials from Lahaul and Pangi will strengthen the implementation of Access and Benefit Sharing model on pilot basis. Furthermore, identification of hidden markets viz., local, regional and national, price trends, value addition and strengthening BMCs will help in sustainable management of MAPs in the landscape. The first step towards conservation is identifying the existing population base, and information on the species distribution and abundance. Identification of the best cultivation practices, R&D to reduce long-gestation periods, cost effective technology, organic-farming, buy-back mechanisms, policy-revision in the interest of stakeholders, protocols for post-cultivation management, quality-control and awareness training are some measures in this direction. It can be concluded that in order to optimize the benefits to the local communities, and to adopt the concepts of sustainable harvesting and benefit-sharing, it is important to assess the availability, market trends and methods for collection of MAPs, including gathering information on population of selected MAPs. A major step towards species conservation can be spreading awareness on the dwindling populations amongst the stakeholders. It is also important to identify alternative sources of income for the locals to create in them confidence that wild harvest of MAPs was not the only source of cash income and, thus to dissuade them from ruthless wild harvest and to make them participate in conservation programs. Identifying and building the capacities of stakeholders including the forest officials, locals, school children, traditional healers and plant traders can help in community based natural resource management. These issues need to be addressed to ensure long-term conservation of the MAP resources of the landscape in a way that livelihood needs of the local communities depending on this resource are not compromised. The following key recommendations have emerged after this study:  Documentation of the Conservation Status of Key MAPs i Setting aside Conservation Areas around Viable Populations of Priority MAPs ii Strengthening of Biodiversity Management Committees (BMCs) iii Value addition by adopting best Post-Harvest Management Techniques iv Developing Farm-scale Agro-Techniques for Priority MAP Species v Developing Germplasm Banks of the Priority MAP Species vi Study and Monitor Impacts of Climate Change
Conservation ecology of the endangered diurnal primates and gaur in Trishna Wildlife Sanctuary, Tripura.
(Wildlife Institute of India, Dehradun, 2006) Dasgupta, Sabyasachi; Gupta, A.K.; Sankar, K.
The aim of the study was to prepare land cover & vegetation maps, quantify vegetation structure and composition in different vegetation types, and assess the status, distribution and habitat use and feeding ecology of capped langur (Trachypithecus pileatus), hoolock gibbon (Bunopithecus hoolock), pig-tailed macaque (Macaca nemestrina) and gaur (Bos gaums gaums) in Trishna Wildlife Sanctuary (TWS) (23° 12' - 23° 32' N to 91° 15' - 91° 30' E), Tripura. Attempt was made to discuss single species vs. multi species approach in conservation and suggest conservation recommendations for the study species and the vegetation resources of the study area.Fieldwork was carried out between January 2002 and June 2004.
Social Behaviour and Communication Among Wild Lion-Tailed Macaque (Macaca silenus) in the Indira Ganghi Wildlife Sanctuary, Tamil Nadu
(Wildlife Institute of India, Dehradun, 2001) Raghavan, Roopali; Gupta, A.K.; Johnsingh, A.J.T.
This study on the social behaviour and communication among wild lion-tailed macaque was carried out between November 2000 and April 2001, on a group of lion-tailed macaques that inhabit the wet evergreen Puthutotam forest fragment. located within the Indira Gandhi Wildlife Sanctuary in the Anaimalai hills, Tamil Nadu.The troop consisted of 16 to 19 animals. For the purpose of this study, social interactions within and between adults and subadults of both sexes were considered. Focal animal sampling and instantaneous scan sampling was thus conducted on only ten identified individuals (four males and six females) in the troop. A complete ethogram describing all behaviour observed during the period of the study was repared. The time-activity budget was calculated for the troop. The predominant behavioural states among all the individuals were Active Forage (mean ± SD of 22.4 ± 0.08%), Active Feed (17.0 ± 0.05%), Sit (16.6 ± 0.04%), Move (13 ± 0.030/0), Passive Forage (6.8 ± 0.02%) and Passive Feed (6.5 ± 0.02%). The adult males and females of the study troop differed in the proportion of time spent by them in the different behavioural states. Autogroom and Allogroom accounted for the principal difference between the sexes. Adult males spent relatively greater time Autogrooming than females, while females allogroomed relatively more. Dominance ranks were calculated independently for males and females in the study troop. Among both males and females, rank position in the dominance hierarchy appeared to be influenced strongly by body size. This is an unusual finding for the females of cercopithecine primate species, implying the existence of an unique individual-based dominance hierarchy among the study females. There was i.e remarkable similarity in the frequency with which dominant and subordinate females displayed virtually all behaviours towards each other in dyadic interactions. This provides support to the prevailing view that lion-tailed macaques indeed display an egalitarian nature. Classification of the gestures and vocalisations were observed to be largely dependent on the dominance rank of the individuals. with certain gestures being characteristic of submission. Males and females showed differential use of the gestures and expressions.